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Welcome to Our Website

Dear Friends,

Thank you for visiting our website. We are pleased that you are interested in learning about USAID’s activities in Timor-Leste.   Over the past 10 years, USAID has worked hard to strengthen our relationship with the Government and people of Timor-Leste. Our objectives are to use innovative and collaborative approaches to make positive and continuing impact on the lives of the Timorese people.

In the coming years, we will continue this close working relationship and support the Timor-Leste Government's 20-year Strategic Development Plan. Following the principles of the New Deal for engagement of fragile states proposed by Timor-Leste and adopted by the international community in Busan, South Korea, in 2011, USAID is focusing on new ways of engaging to support inclusive country-led and country-owned growth. Our work includes include fostering economic growth, incorporating measures to combat global climate change, improving access to healthcare for the citizens of Timor-Leste, and strengthening governance and democratic practices in this young and vibrant democracy.

The information you find on this website helps describe years of hard work by USAID in Timor-Leste. Since 2000, we have provided $317,399,000 in assistance to the country, which inaugurated its first free government in 2002. We have worked with hundreds of international and Timorese organizations and thousands of Timorese citizens to help build this young democracy. Some recent highlights of our work include:

  • an intensive agricultural project in Aileu District, which has helped farmers raise and sell more than $150,000 worth of vegetables in Dili and which continues to expand and reach more farmers
  • a health program that serves as a model for health care and has helped to reduce infant and under-5 mortality rates by 27 percent and 23 percent, respectively, over the past 7 years
  • a water and sanitation program that has provided clean water to more than 40,000 rural residents and taught them basic hygiene practices
  • a workforce education initiative that enabled graduates to find employment, start their own businesses, pursue additional vocation training, or return to formal education
  • an independent media project that supported the establishment of six independent regional media centers, and furnished them with computer equipment and internet access
  • a coffee rehabilitation project that is helping more than 22,000 farm families (almost 15% of the population) improve their yields of the high-value coffee that is Timor-Leste's most valuable non-petroleum export
  • an election project that has supported local and national elections through the government, the independent elections commission, civil society, and the media.

We still have much to accomplish. The challenges are great but our commitment matches them. In support of our Timorese partners, we will uphold USAID Timor-Leste’s mantra of “Innovation, Integrity, and Impact” to overcome these challenges and grasp the opportunities on the road to Timor-Leste's development.

Thanks again for your interest in our programs. We hope you find the website informative. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or comments.

Rick Scott
Mission Director, USAID Timor-Leste